This invention relates to a fishing head for use with a bow and arrow, spear or gig, and particularly to such a fishing head which is provided with a retaining barb or locking device which can selectively be placed in a position to prevent the escape of a fish which has been shot or speared.
Arrowheads designed to hold a fish which has been shot with a bow and arrow by means of a pivotable barb have previously been known. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate two of the prior art devices.
In FIG. 3 an arrowhead 101 is provided with a pointed piercing tip 102 and a depending skirt portion 103 which flares outwardly away from the tip. The arrowhead is provided with an externally threaded mandrel 104 for attachment to the shaft 105 of an arrow. A through bore 107 is provided at the narrow point 108 of the skirt portion 103 adjacent the widest portion 109 of the piercing tip. A retaining barb 106 of generally U-shaped configuration has its bight portion inserted through the bore 107 and can rotate from a position in which the legs of the retaining barb extend substantially along the longitudinal axis of the arrow to a position as shown in FIG. 3 where the retaining barbs are held by the wide portion 109 of the piercing tip in a position substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the arrow. It is not possible to release the fish holding barbs to a fish releasing position in which the open end of the U point toward the tip of the arrowhead. To remove a fish the arrowhead must be completely unscrewed from the shaft of the arrow so that the fish can be slid over the threaded mandrel. This can be a difficult task in adverse weather conditions which can prevail when such fishing is being done.
FIG. 4 shows another form of fish holding arrowhead 201. Arrowhead 201 has a sharp piercing tip 202 which has an internally threaded depending skirt portion 203 which receives a threaded mandrel 204 of an adapter 205 which is designed to attach to the shaft of an arrow. The bight portion of a generally U-shaped fish retaining barb 206 is retained in bore 207 in the tip of the arrowhead. The retaining bard 206 is of generally circular cross-section but is provided with a flat face 208 which cooperates with the flattened end 209 of the threaded mandrel 204 when the parts are completely threadedly mated to prevent rotation of the retaining barb 206 from its shooting or fish penetrating position in which it is shown in solid lines in FIG. 4. When the adapter 205 is unthreaded from piercing tip 202 by about a half turn, the retaining barbs may be swung to the position indicated by the dotted lines FIG. 4, in which a fish may be withdrawn over the tip of the arrowhead and the retaining barbs. When the adapter is unthreaded from the fully threaded position to positions less than about a half turn, the retaining barb is allowed to rotate from its fish penetrating position by varying amounts up to about a 90 degree angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the arrowhead and shaft. In this position the retaining barb will prevent withdrawal of a fish over the tip of the arrow. The locking ring 210 is apparently intended to help maintain the various positions of adjustment between the threaded parts. As may be seen, adjustment of the retaining barbs is extremely critical and a very small rotation between the threaded parts caused by spinning of the fish while it is being retrieved, as is very likely to happen, will cause complete reversal of the retaining barbs to the fish releasing position and the loss of the fish. In addition, in both of the examples of prior art shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, because of the location of the retaining barbs in the tip of the arrow rather than on the shaft of the arrow, rotation of the fish during retrieval may very well completely remove the arrowhead from the arrow shaft, losing both the fish and the arrowhead.
In the present invention the retaining barb is secured to the mandrel which in turn is secured to the shaft of the arrow rather than to the tip of the arrowhead so that spinning of the fish while it is being reeled in will not disassemble the fishing head and release the fish. With the mandrel fully threaded to the tip of the arrowhead the retaining barbs are allowed to swing freely to a fish holding position approximately at right angles to the center line of the arrow. When it is desired to release the fish and remove it from the arrowhead it is necessary only to unthread the tip of the arrow approximately two or three turns which allows the retaining barbs to swing a full 180 degrees from the original shooting position so that the arrow can be easily removed from the fish.